Silent Regrets
by heaven-hell-earth
Summary: Prequel to Silence is Key. The story of Victoria and how she became mute and why. I mean, she didn't slit her own throat.


Silent Regrets

"Ouch, that hurts!" Victoria whined as Bryan dragged her into their rundown shack. Rotting wood were the walls and snow covered the ground where the roof had caved in. He pushed the younger into the center of the room, circling to take in damage.

"You could have died." The lilac haired kid whispered in a monotone voice, checking her back where her purple sweater was torn by a rock. Thankfully, the shirt survived. He noticed that she must be losing more weight since the sweater was now hanging off her shoulders.

"I'm sorry." Her left hand moved up to play with the five braids that hung around her face. In her right hand, she grasped a silver bottle of nail polish. She really did feel bad about having Bryan save her. She wanted to show him how good she had gotten at stealing, but she failed.

"Be careful." The falcon turned his back on Victoria. Mistake.

She pushed the older twin hard towards the door. "I'm not a baby!" A gasp was heard when Bryan landed face first into the snow outside the door. He flipped over fast, only to find the door being slammed in his face. "I hate you!" Victoria screamed at the now closed door. Tears were threatening to fall from her blue-green eyes. She would _not _cry. Not now, not ever. She had to be strong, even if it's just to make Bryan proud of her.

Bryan's old boots were kicking away snow and rotting planks. She had always be smaller than her twin, so she almost always wore his old clothes. Everything she owned was his, except for her sweater. Victoria stomped around until a hallow sound was heard. She pushed away the last of the snow show she quickly found their large store of food. That was incase a large famine hit and they needed to eat, but Vicki took food from their store, but she didn't care.

After packing up a messenger bag, that was a present from Bryan, with raw pork, fat included, and two freezer burnt apples, Vicki ran from her little shack with lightning speed. It was about noon, according to the sun. The snow had finally stopped falling the night before, so running was easy. She was headed towards the small forest on the edge of town.

The little sun that was out disappeared when she entered the forest. The air was cooler and had her wishing that she didn't tear a hole in her sweater, or Bryan's jeans for that matter. Shadows danced about her the farther she got into the forest, closer to her friend. And soon, she was at the base of a tall pine tree, green needles covered in pure snow. Crouching down, Victoria prepared to jump up in an attempt to grab the lowest branch. In the first try, she was able to wrap her small, nimble hands around the branch. She was lucky to have years of experience on her side.

The seven year old girl swung from limb to limb, imitating what she had seen squirrels, wild cats, and other woodland creatures do to climb trees. After ten minutes, she had been able to find her way to the middle of the tree.

Now, she was wiggling closer and closer to the trunk, pretending to be cat edging closer and closer to her prey. She had found long ago that pretending helped you forget about many things. Like her deadly fear of heights.

Her prey was a large hawk sitting in her nest, watching her was cautious eyes. "Hello, Ms. Hawk. I brought dinner today." Victoria whispered once she was a few feet away from the nest. She reached into the bag and pulled out the slab of meat before tossing it into the nest. Ms. Hawk could easily be one of the largest female hawks in Russia, just because she eats good meat at least four times a week.

"Bryan is mad at me today." The hawk seemed to nod at this while shredding the pork. Victoria chatted about this and that, but mostly about Bryan. She talked about how falcons and Bryan seemed to go hand in hand, how he protected her, how she could never make him proud.

"Ms. Hawk? Why haven't you left?" It may seem like a rude question to ask a bird when you invaded its space, but normally she left once she was done eating. So, the question really did make sense. Ms. Hawk tilted her head before shifting slightly. If you looked under her grey, black, and white feathers, you could see the gleam of an egg.

"Oh wow! Now you're Mrs. Hawk! Good luck!" Victoria waved before jumping down to the branch below. There, she quickly ate an apple. All the flavor was gone, but that was to be expected. The reason she didn't eat near Mrs. Hawk was because she would try and the apple since Victoria was so close.

Once she finished the apple, core and all, she slipped from branch to branch. The fresh snow was painted with pinks and oranges turning into purples and blues. It gave the whole area an angelic look, almost as if it held no secrets. But she knew. She knew what was hidden deep within, and she shouldn't know. She was lucky enough to have not died by their hands yet. You can't trust adults, that is what she had learned while growing up. They will only come and stab you in the back, several times if possible.

Victoria ran through the snow, dodging hidden obstacles through practice. Her breath came in heavy gasps as she began to run through town. The mist coming from her mouth continuously caught her attention. Warm air turned cold with crystals with speed most things were incapable of.

After tripping and cursing several times, Victoria made it home. She was about to climb through the window when voices made her stop. Her knees gave out, causing her fall into the snow. The voices got louder, so she pressed her ear against the wall.

"Tala. Spencer. Bind him." A voice called. Shivers ran up and down her spine, she _knew _that voice, and real well. He was part of that secret, an evil school that she kept visiting. That voice, it went hand in hand with a name. Boris. That man mistreated children by training them hard in some stupid sport she can't even remember the name of.

Inside, there was a struggle. She could hear the curses that came streaming out of Bryan's mouth as he was dragged out the front door by a blonde and a redhead. Victoria shifted her body, ready to pounce on the attackers. But her twin had other thoughts, he shook his head vigorously. She stopped. Even though it doesn't look like it, Victoria always followed Bryan's orders.

Then it hit her, the redhead. She knew him! She watched him in the forest when he came by her tree. And then she followed him, causing her to discover the school. But she had been seen there all the time. Boris had chased her away a couple of times, so he had gotten some decent looks at her. Enough to know that she and Bryan had to be related, and that man was so evil, he would kidnap Bryan if it meant finding her. Victoria had caused some damage, not to mention she tended to sneak food to the prisoners. Mostly Tala though. Since she saw him close to the gate a lot.

Victoria watched as her brother and friend was dragged away, struggling all the while. She could do nothing, nothing but wait. As soon as the group of four had disappeared around the corner, she vaulted through the window. The walls were broken in at least five new places, and everything was scattered about.

Tears threatened to fall again, and she let them this time. The salt water crawled at snails pace as it slowly froze on her face. Not caring anymore, Victoria ran to the store of food. She pulled everything out, foods, water, trinkets, and old memories until she had reached the bottom of the deep pit. There! Hidden in a corner, there was a top and a launcher. What was it called again? Oh yeah, a beyblade. The beyblade was a dark purple, almost black, with a sliver cross down the middle. The launcher matched, but she didn't care. She just wanted something to remember Bryan by, that wasn't something she would grow out of.

Her bag was soon filled with all the food she could pack with the side pockets puffy with her new beyblade. Victoria decided to wait out the night, to gather her strength. Now with Bryan gone, she couldn't fall asleep. Death would knock down the fragile door she kept up. So there she lay, on the stone cold floor, staring up at the night sky. Just, waiting. For what? She didn't know. All she knew to do was wait, and not go after Bryan. That would be going against his wishes. And she couldn't do that, at least, not until she grew up and was so strong he had to be proud. Then, she would give him a piece of her mind; let him know how angry and depressed she was. _To help me find him, emotions control me forever and ever. Never let me go._ Those were her last thoughts before she passed out with her eyes forever seeing.

The next day, before dawn, Victoria slowly walked from her used to be home. She could never go back, that would cause to much pain. Oh yes! Let's go back to the place where my brother left me all alone! She would be reduced to tears, again. She shuffled through the snow, trying to think of where to go. There was only one place, Mrs. Hawk. She wouldn't cast her onto the streets, but would welcome her with open wings. As long as she was kept well fed with meat.

The twinkling stars were soon reduced to nothingness when the sun forced his was through the clouds. It, once again, colored the snow. Victoria subconsciously followed the same path that the four took last night, but how could she know that?

As she trudged through the snow, she forced her way into forest, taking the same path as always. The more flimsy branches hung down, heavy with snow, to touch her shoulders and head. To Victoria, the trees wept heavy tears for her loss. That is why the snow fell all around her.

Even though horribly tired, depression and the drive to live forced her on. She leapt gracelessly from branch to branch, continuously slipping on snow. Victoria's nails was soon filled with bark from trying to catch herself many times. But finally, she was able to pulled herself onto her 'safe' branch. Before passing out out of sheer exhaustion, Vicki tossed some meat to Mrs. Hawk.

_You aren't worthy. Die. Stupid crap. Bryan was meant to be taken away. That way, he'll survive. You were only a mistake. You shouldn't have been born. You were lucky to be born, Mistake. Father left because of you. Mother died because of you. You put to much strain on her body. You will be the death of the one thing you love. And I'll be sitting here, watching you. Laughing. When either of you die, I'll be the last thing you hear. And you can never get rid of me. What to know why? I'll tell you. I _am _you. I am everything you hate about us. You and me, together forever. Nice ring too it, don't you think? Bye now!_

Victoria woke in a cold sweat. The same words have been haunting her for years, ever since Mommy died and Daddy walked away. It _was_ her fault! If she just wasn't born, if she could have let only Bryan survive, this wouldn't have happened. Bryan wouldn't be gone!

She was shocked out of her self pity when she heard a gun go off. The loud bang was ringing through the close-knit forest. Mrs. Hawk was scared out of her perch on the egg. She flew out towards the open area. Not thinking, Victoria stood up and followed her until she was teetering on the edge of a weak branch. Mrs. Hawk was trying to fly away with strong wings when the gun went off again. The bullet whizzed by her head, only to go and hit the hawk. Both fell to the ground, blow softened by the fluffy snow.

Her bag had fallen with her, spilling the contents everywhere on the ground. Over her stood a man, well built.

"Well, well, well. Look what the bird dragged in." He hissed voice low. Victoria was ready to scream, and loud. Too bad the man had done this before. His rough and calloused hand clamped over her mouth as he pulled out a hunting knife. The curved blade glinted in the sun as he lowered it to her neck. And then the blonde wig fell off. The pure evil radiated off his body. _Boris_. She thought while struggling more. He slowly shook his head.

"Sorry, _Victoria_." He whispered in her ear before cutting about half an inch into her neck. Pain shot through her body, causing her to arch her back. It felt as if thirty rusty nails were digging into her throat. She thrashed wildly as she felt her power drain away. But she couldn't die. She hasn't even tried to find Bryan. She had to find him!

"Leave her alone!" A voice called. Victoria's dropping eyes looked up at her savior. An albino male. He looked only eight years old, but in his hand was a beyblade.

Boris only laughed. She, oh so slowly, moved to place snow over her neck. To numb the pain. And maybe stop the bleeding. So far, she already had a crimson halo cover surround her head. An evil angel, or maybe a murdered saint. Which one is better. Hmm... Either way she was stuck going to hell, so, to her, it didn't matter.

The albino launched his blade at Boris, causing the man's temple to bleed heavily. Boris growled, but backed off. He knew that without any of his lackeys, he wouldn't be able to tame the kid.

The boy's bright red eyes quickly found the medical kit she carried everywhere. He used the needle and thread to stitch her back up. She only felt a small prick at her neck since the snow pretty much numbed everything.

The boy swept her up into his arms and began to walk away. Victoria wiggled around so he placed her down, watching her every move. The first thing she did was basically crawl over to her bag so she could dump everything and make sure her blade was okay. Using her hands, she motioned the boy over. She wrote in the snow so he would understand what she wanted. _Eeg. Up in taree._

After staring for a moment, the boy nodded and began to climb up. He wasn't made for climbing, and had may flaws, but he didn't fall. While her new friend was climbing the tree for Mrs. Hawk's egg, Victoria tried to talk. Her mouth moved and breath was going in and out, but no sound. Then it hit her in a hurry. She was _mute!_ There was no way for her to survive! No way! And in the way back of her head, a small voice was laughing.

While trying to think of how this could implicate her, the albino held a small, speckled egg in front of her. Victoria grabbed for the egg, and broke it in the process. Instead of that sticky and raw mess normally are, was a bit-chip. The power fused into the object was a silver hawk with armor over her chest and in the very center, was a black gem.

"Don't worry. You should be mute. He cut your voice box, but you can beyblade with me and my friends. I'm Scott." The albino held out his hand, and Vicki took it. "My bit-beast is Sharkanna, The black shark." Scott, once again, picked up Victoria's frail form.

She sighed as she let the boy carry her away. _Hawikanna. We will free our brothers, together._ Was her last thought before falling asleep. Then she was startled awake. She realized something, actually her other side did.

_Ha! The last thing you said to Bryan was that you hated him! Good luck with fixing that! _Her other half whispered in a perverse joy.

_I did..._ Victoria hated herself even more than she did a second ago.


End file.
